Pseudobiceros splendidus ( Lang, 1884 )

Pseudobiceros splendidus ( Lang, 1884) View in CoL

Fig. 13 View Figure 13

Material examined.

Yucatan coast, Mexico • 1; Bajos de Sisal ; 21.2°N, 90.0°W; 1 m; 22 Feb. 2018; A. Hernández leg.; CRPPY -0030 GoogleMaps .

Distribution.

Originally described from Naples, Italy ( Lang 1884). Recorded in Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Mid Turtle Shoal, Hawk Channel, Florida Keys, and the Atlantic coast of Florida, USA ( Lang 1884; Hyman 1939, 1955; Litvaitis et al. 2019); Forte de Itaipú, Santos, São Paulo, Extremoz, Rio Grande de Norte, and Cabo Frío, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ( Marcus 1950; Bahia et al. 2012, 2014); Heron Island and One Tree Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia; Hawaii, USA; Madang, Papua New Guinea; Rottnest Island, Western Australia; Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India; Indonesia; Maldives; South Africa; Singapore ( Newman and Cannon 1994, 1997; Marquina et al. 2015; Litvaitis et al. 2019). New records for the Yucatan coast and Gulf of Mexico.

Description.

Body shape elongated with rounded anterior end and tapered posterior end, 1 cm in length and 0.5 cm in width. Velvety, wine-coloured background with a submarginal orange and marginal black band, interrupted at level of the pseudotentacles (Fig. 13 A, C View Figure 13 ). Cerebral eyes located in a pigmentation-less area (Fig. 13 B View Figure 13 ). Ruffled pharynx in the first 1 / 3 of the body, with the mouth. Two male copulatory organs are located close to the female gonopore and near the pharynx. Ventral sucker centred in the second corporal 1 / 3.

Remarks.

Specimens of Pseudobiceros splendidus studied show a colouration pattern similar to the specimens from Florida, illustrated in Litvaitis et al. (2019: fig. 9 A). Litvaitis et al. (2019) grouped the closely related and similar species Pseudobiceros evelinae , P. periculosus , and P. hymanae into a single species, P. splendidus . This grouping is based on the results obtained through the molecular analyses of 28 S and the few morphological differences found between these species ( Litvaitis et al. 2019).

Biology.

The samples were collected under rocks associated with ascidians, possibly the primary food source of this species.